Apparatus for cleaning and sterilizing feathers



May 11, 1954 P. c. SPARKS 2,677,896 APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND STERILIZING FEATHERS Filed June 12, 1950 3 Shee ts-Sheet l Q -inl 76 IN VEN TOR. I Paul 6: Sparks 44 fus- BY 2 my W fltiorfley M y 1954 P. c. SPARKS 2,677,896

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND STERILIZING FEATHERS Filed June 12, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Paul Cf fi'urfi's "5.7 BY

May 11, 1954 P. c. SPARKS 2,677,896 APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND STERILIZING FEATHERS Filed June 12, 1950 5 SheetsSheet 5 a7 aa INVENTOR. Paul 6'. 17117121;

Patented May 11, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND STERILIZ- ING FEATHERS Paul C. Sparks, Miami, Fla.

1950, Serial No. 167,540

Application June 12,

Claims.

ing and sterilizing by steam under pressure, and

light material sub- Ieathers and other pillow filling material such as cotton and kapok, it may also be used for other similar purposes.

one minute being all that is required for one charge or hopper full of work material.

Another object is the processing of feathers or similar material so as to sterilize vision of a hopper, within which the work of renovation is performed, and the arrangement for directing air currentsto and from the hopper,

detailed description and drawings. v The accompanying drawings illustrating the invention and forming a part of the specification are as follows:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a front elevation. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail on line 3-3. Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows the electrical circuit diagram.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section view on line 55.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the hopper and adjacent parts as taken on line i0-lfi, Fig. 6.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary plan view of the intake of one of the dust carrying ducts.

I n the drawings similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The functional parts of the apparatus are preferably built respectively. With the apparatus in operation, a very strong suction is created in both the hopper 5 and tank 1 and, to the end of providing an air-tight seal between the cabinet top 2 and the covers, gasket ID of resilient material is provided for the cover 8,

like seal I l for the cover 9. Cover 8 is also shown as having a window l2 through which turbulence of material within the hopper may be viewed.

The hopper 5 proper circulation of air currents is of importance. The hopper stands vertically and, in this instance, is formed of three axially aligned sections Hi, 55 and is rigidly joined along their abutting peripheral edges into an integral unit. The top section Hi comprises a truncated cone of comparatively shallow depth with reference to the other sections, its upper open end being the mouth of the hopper registering with opening l in the cabinet top Regularly spaced circumferentially in the wall of section M is a ring of holes i'l through which heated air enters the hopper from a surround ing passage it. Arranged within this section, and preferably secured to the wall thereof in a plane below that of holes ii, is a steam coil in the form of a ring 19 having connection with a source of supply as will be explained, and having an annular arrangement of minute perforations, indicated at 2%, Fig. 10, whereby steam under pressure is projected in fine jets into the mass of turbulent material tumbling about in chamber [3.

The intermediate section it is also a truncated cone with its wall of less angular inclination than that of section Hi. This section is a sieve for the separation of dust from the feathers or other material and for that purpose may be formed of a reticulated material such fine wire mesh or, preferably, of finely perforated stainless steel, the perforations being fine enough to allow dust to pass through but not feathers or other material.

Bottom section l6 of the hopper is an inverted truncated cone of greater depth than section it but, in this instance, of less depth than intenediate section l5. In the wall of this section are a greater number of holes 2! than similar holes H in section is and arranged, preferably, in at least two rings in spaced relation to each other and concentric with the axis of the hopper. Heated air enters chamber it through these holes 2! from a surrounding passage Discharge of the renovated and fiuifed material from the hopper is through the open bottom of section 16 into the receiving end of a duct 23.

Concentric with the hopper, but in spaced relation therewith to provide a surrounding air chamber 24 communicating with chamber it through the reticulated wall of section it, is a cylindrical shell or housing 25 in which is central aperture registering with the open bottom of hopper section it and the duct 23.

Dissipation of heat from the chamber i3 is greatly retarded by providing asbestos insulation 26 on the side wall of housing 25. An annular partition 28 separates passage Hi from chamber 24 and a like wall 29 divides the larger passage 22 from chamber 24, this wall 2% terminating above the housing bottom 2'5 and extending laterally at as to the inclined wall of section it so that chamber 24 provides air space below as well as to the side of passage 22.

Duct 23 leads to tank I projecting a short distance through the right hand end wall thereof, with respect to the drawings, and having an outwardly turned flange 23a at its discharge end.

From perforated areas 3| and 32 the bottom 21 of housing 25, one each side of the feather discharge opening, ducts 33 and 34, respectively, also lead to tank I. These ducts are smaller in cross sectional area than duct 23 and enter tank 1, in this instance, through its bottom Wall ad jacent the end of the larger duct with their flanged open ends facing in the general direction of a screened opening 35 in the end wall of the tank opposite that through which duct 23 is projected. This opening 35 communicates with an air chamber 36 in the front wall of which, below tank 1, is an opening having communication through a tubular connection 31 with the intake of a combination suction and blower fan 38 mounted on shaft 39 to rotate in a housing 40 from which the discharged air is blown to the atmosphere through conduit 41. Fixed to the shaft 39 is a pulley driven by a belt 42 from a pulley on the shaft 43 of an electric motor 44.

Movable across the inner face of the housing bottom 2? are two opposing shutters 45 and 46 which are pivoted to such wall at 41 and 48, respectively. These shutters are moved angularly toward and from each other by means of a pair of short links one of which, 49, is pivoted at its outer end to shutter 45 while the other link 50 is similarly pivoted to shutter 46. The inner ends of these links have a common pivotal connection 5! with one end of a push-and-pull rod 52 guided for movement in a bracket piece 53 and which, adjacent its outer end carries a head block 54. Pivoted to this block is the outer end of a link 55 which at its inner end has pivotal connection with a lever 56 fixed to a transverse shaft 51 rotatable in bearings carried by the frame 3. Rotary movement of shaft 5! is controlled by manual operation of a lever 58. When lever 58 is in the full line position, Fig. 2, the shutters 45 and 46 are moved apart to close the openings 3| and 32, respectively, to the dust ducts 33 and 3|. When the lever is thrown to the right, as indicated in dotted lines at 58a, the shutters are brought into abutment with each other, as shown in Fig. '7, to close the intake opening of the feather carrying duct 23.

Also pivoted to lever 56 is one end of a rod 59 which, like rod 52, is guided for axial movement in bracket 53 and at its other end has an eye to receive the lower end of a vertical extending rod 35. This rod 60 has eye connections Bl with a draft door 62 in housing 25-26 and provides a means for opening and closing such door by operation of the control lever 58.

The tank 1 provides a chamber for receiving a sack 63 which is a temporary receptacle for the renovated material discharged through duct 23, its open end being removably attached to the flanged end 23a of the duct by any suitable clamping means such as the coiled spring with hook engaging ends as shown at 64 in Fig. 8. Smaller dust collecting sacks or bags 65 are similarly attached to the flanged discharge ends of ducts 33 and 3 All sacks are of porous material so that suction by fan 38 will be created in the respective ducts to which the sacks are attached.

A pipe 66, Fig. 9, conducts steam under pressure from a suitable source of supply, not shown, to the coils B1 of an air heater G8 which on its outer side is open to the atmosphere while its inner side is open to discharge heated air into a passage 69 leading to the passages 18 and 22.

An extension 10 of pipe 66 leads to one side of a valve H the other side of which has connection through pipe 12 with the steam coil Hi. This valve ll is normally closed and is controlled by the operation of a solenoid magnet 16 in electrical connection through switch 13, see Figs. 2 and 4, and a time clock 14 with a source of electric supply from which the motor 44 is also operated when starting switch 15 is closed. Gaskets I6 and 11, Fig. 10, bear against the shutters 45 and 46 to provide an air-tight seal between hopper section IB and duct 23.

Operation The tank cover 9 is opened to permit attachment of a sack 63 to the discharge end of duct 23 and a sack 65 to the discharge end of each of the dust ducts 33 and 34, the operating lever being thrown to its dotted line position 53a, Fig. 2, so that the feather receiving end of duct 23 is closed by shutters 45 and 48 and the perforated areas 3! and 32 left open. Cover 8 is then raised and, with the opened end of a pillow tick held over the opening 3, the feathers are deposited into the chamber l3 of hopper 5. With the motor 44 running a powerful suction is created by fan 38 and operates as follows:

Air from the atmosphere is drawn into heater 68 where it is heated by coils 6"! and discharged into passage 69 and thence to passages l8 and 22 from which it escapes through apertures i7 and 2|, respectively, into chamber 13 of the hopper. Air currents thus created in chamber I3, with greater pressure from the bottom, due to there being a larger number of apertures 2! in the bottom hopper section It; than like open- It, keeps the mass suspended while the combined currents of air effect a tumbling of the feathers and maintains the mass in a state of turbulence. At the same time as this, the dusting action takes place, air from chamber 13 escapes by suction through the perforated wall of hopper section I5 and carries the dust with it into the surrounding chamber 24 from which it passes through the perforated areas 3! and 32 into the ducts 33 and 3 and thence to the sacks 65 where the dust is collected. The sacks being of porous material, the air current continues on through tank screen 35, chamber 36, connection 3'! to the intake side of fan 38 and then is discharged through fan housing and conduit 4| to the atmosphere. This dusting action is completed in approximately ten seconds. Switch 13 is then closed whereby valve H is opened through action of the solenoid it and steam under pressure is projected in jets from the perforated coil l9 into the turbulent mass of feathers, the clock I4 being set to automati- L cally close valve H after a predetermined time interval of about thirty seconds. Heated air continues to be drawn into chamber it through apertures l? and 2| and at this time with the steam cut off, acts to dry and fluff the ing air and moisture also passing by suction through the perforated wall of hopper section It into chamber 24 and thence to the ducts 33 and 34.

With the feathers thus cleaned, sterilized, dried and fiuffed, lever 58 is thrown to its full line position, Fig. 2, thus moving the shutters 45 and 46 to close the ducts 33 and 34 and open duct 23 so that the suction created by fan 38 now acts to pull the feathers from the hopper and deliver them through duct 23 into the sack 63. This movement of lever 58 also opens draft door 82 to the atmosphere, the additional draft of air aiding in dislodging material that may have a tendency to cling to the wall of hopper section 15. The sack 63 is then detached from the duct and replaced by the original pillow tick which has been laundered and is now quickly refilled by emptying the cleaned feathers from their temporary housing in sack 63 into the hopper 5 and allowing suction to again pull them through duct 23 and into the original pillow-tick which now occupies the position that sack 63 occupied during the cleaning and sterilizing operation.

A valuable feature of the hereinabove defeathers, the drying positioned some on the scribed invention is that thorough renovation of the filling of a pillow requires but approximately one minute from the time the material is placed in the hopper 5 until it is drawn by suction into the receiving sack B3. Feathers, when subject to heat exceeding 200 F. are destroyed in a very short time, the oil in the quill being drawn to the surface with the result that the feathers become brittle and disintegrate. With this invention the temperature to which feathers are subjected is suificiently high to effect cleaning, sterilization, drying and fluifing but within a time limit wherein all danger to damage to the feathers by heat is eliminated.

It is believed that from the foregoing the invention has been made suiiiciently clear as to call for no further explanation. It will, of course, be understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and that various changes in structural detail may be made withspirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination, in an apparatus for cleaning and sterilizing feathers and the like, of a work holding hopper having a filling opening, a discharge opening, said hopper comprising top and bottom end sections having apertures for the intake of air and a connecting intermediate section of perforated material for the outlet of air and dust, a cover for said filling opening, means for opening and closing said discharge opening, means creating a flow of air through said intake and outlet apertures, said air intake apertures betop portion of said hopper and some on the bottom portion of said hopper, the total area of air intake apertures on the bottom portion of said hopper being greater than the total of air intake apertures on top portion of said hopper, air passages leading to said inlet apertures, an outlet passage leading from said perforated intermediate section, an air duct leading from said discharge opening, and means for opening and closing said second passage accordingly as said air duct is closed or open.

2. A combination in accordance with claim 1 and including means for introducing steam into said hopper for a predetermined time interval during the time said air duct leading from the said discharge opening is closed agitation of the feathers being entirely by means of air currents.

3. A combination in accordance with claim 1, but characterized by a vertically extending hopper having said filling opening at the top and said discharge opening at the bottom, an air passage surrounding said top section, an air passage surrounding said bottom section, an air heater, a conduit whereby air passing from the atmosphere through said heater is conducted to said two air passages, a housing surrounding the hopper and said air passages and in spaced relation thereto to provide a chamber into which air is discharged through said intermediate hopper section, a bottom wall for said housing having two openings therein, a feather discharge duct the receiving end of which is in registry with one of said bottom openings and the discharge opening in said hopper, a dust discharge duct leading from the other of said bottom openings, a shutter for opening or closing either of said bottom openings accordingly as the other said opening is closed or open, and means for actuating said shutter.

4. Apparatus of the character described as recited in claim 3 but including a draft door in said housing, and including means for opening said door when said shutter moves to open said feather discharge duct, and for closing the door when said shutter moves to open said dust discharge duct.

5. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 including a housing and a bottom wall in said housing having a center opening and an opening on each side of the center opening, a pair of opposing planetary shutters each pivoted at one end of said bottom wall, said shutters when brought together providing a common closure for said center opening and separate closures for said side openings when swung angularly apart, a pushand-pull rod for actuating said shutters, a pair of links each pivoted at one end to said rod and at its other end to a respective one of said shutters, a rotatable shaft, an operating lever fixed to said shaft, and connections between said shaft and said rod for actuating the rod by the angular throw of said lever.

6. Apparatus as recited in claim 5 characterized by said housing including a side wall, a hinged draft door in said side wall, and additional connections between said shaft and said door for simultaneously opening and closing said door as the said shutters are brought together or moved apart.

'7. The combination, in apparatus of the character described, of a hopper having a filling opening and a discharge opening, a cover for said filling opening and a movable closure for said discharge opening, said hopper comprising top and bottom sections with apertures therein for the intake of air the total cross-section of the said apertures in the bottom section being greater than the total cross-section of the said apertures in the top section of said hopper and a perforated intermediate section for the outlet of air and dust; a suction fan, means for rotating said fan, a tank open at the top, a cover for said tank, an air conduit leading from said tank to the intake side of said fan, conduits for carrying air by suction of said fan from the atmosphere to said hopper through said apertures in said top and bottom hopper sections, a housing for said hopper including side and bottom walls and providing an air chamber for receiving air and dust drawn by suction through said perforated intermediate hopper section, a feather discharge duct leading from said hopper discharge opening to said tank, a feather receiving sack of porous material on the discharge end of said duct, a dust carrying duct leading from said air chamber to said tank, a porous dust collecting sack on the discharge end of said dust carrying duct, said movable closure member operating to close one of said ducts when the other is open and viceversa, and means for actuating said closure member, agitation and movement of the feathers being entirely by air currents and the entire cycle being carried out in one hopper.

8. In apparatus of the character described, a combination in accordance with claim 7 but including a draft door in said housing side wall, and characterized by said closure actuating means also controlling the opening and closing of said draft door.

9. In apparatus of the character described, a combination according to claim 7 and including a heater through which the air to said hopper is drawn by suction of said fan, a perforated steam pipe arranged in said hopper adjacent its intake end, a source of steam supply, an electrically operated valve for controlling the passage of steam to said perforated pipe, and a time clock operating to automatically close said valve.

10. A combination in accordance with claim 7 but including a cabinet into which the said apparatus is built, said cabinet including a horizontally disposed top wall having an opening to the intake end of said hopper and a second opening to said tank, and characterized by said hopper and tank covers also being closures for said cabinet top openings and having hinged connection to said top.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,779,692 Brubaker Oct. 23, 1930 1,945,296 Klayman et a1. Jan. 30, 1934 2,027,590 Hirsch Jan, 14, 1936 2,081,685 Straus May 25, 1937 2,264,880 Hetzer Dec. 2, 1 41 2,264,887 Otis Dec. 2, 1941 2,552,243 Wheeler May 8, 1951 

